Tumbler holder



United States Patent l TUlVIBLER HOLDER Mary H. Shippen, Lost Springs, Wyo.

Application February 24, 1953, Serial No. 338,391

3 Claims. (Cl. 248-313) This invention relates to a supporting device for a drinking glass and more particularly to a tumbler holder that is especially adaptable to be installed in the bathrooms of hotels and homes.

The primary object of this invention resides in the provision of a tumbler holder that is capable of supporting a water glass in a secure and sanitary manner.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tumbler holder which employs means for resiliently clampingly engaging a water glass in a secure manner with means being provided to completely overly the open end of the water glass.

The construction of this invention features the use of a casing which may be formed from any suitable material such as any of the conventional synthetic plastic resins or the like, the casing being adapted to retain guide members to which the supporting means for the glass are attached. These supporting means includes arms extending through spaced slots in the casing and a spring is used to continuously draw the guides together and hence the arms together with the water glass engaging members carried thereby.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention, by way of example only, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the tumbler holder comprising the present invention with parts thereof being shown in section for greater detail;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the device;

Figure 3 is a top plan view illustrating this invention; and,

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view as taken along the plane of line 4--4 in Figure 1.

With continuing reference to the accompanying draw ings wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 generally designates a vertical surface or wall to which this invention is adapted to be secured. A casing 12 having a front wall 14 and a rear wall 16 is secured to the vertical surface 10 by means of screws 18 or other fasteners which extend through the upper and lower ears 20 and 22 formed integrally with the rear wall 16. The front wall 14 is spaced from the rear wall 16 so as to form a vertically extending space 24 therebetween. An upper slot 26 and a lower slot 28 are formed in the front 14 and open into the vertically extending space 24. It is to be noted that the supper slot 26 is substantially smaller than the lower slot 28 and is separated from the lower slot 28 by the means of the main portion 14.

Received within the vertically extending space 24 are upper and lower guides 30 and 32 respectively, which are slidable within the space 24 while being substantially larger in each dimension than the slots 26 and 28. At tached to the lower surface of the upper guide 30 and the upper surface of the lower guide 32 by means of eye members 34 and 36 is a coil spring 38 which con- 2 tinuously draws the vguides V30 and l32 towards .each other.

Secured "to the up'pe'r `guide 30 ladjacent 'the upper edge" thereof li's a "supporting -arm 40 and a lower supp'ortin'g 'arm 42 is attached "to the lower guide 32 ad- "jacent its lower edge. There isl'attached "to the upper "supporting -arm 30 af-substantially' hemispherical body 44 which has integrally molded therewith or attached thereto a cylindrical portion 46 of less diameter than the body 40. A groove 4S is therefore formed and is adapted to receive the upper edge or lip 50 of a water glass or tumbler 52. Secured to the lower supporting arm 40 is a tumbler supporting member which includes a base plate 54 which has attached thereto a circular guard rail 56 held in spaced relationship from the base plate by means of a plurality of arcuate posts 58.

ln operation, a glass is inserted by depressing the lower arm 42 and guide 32 and tensioning the spring 38. Then, the glass or tumbler 52 is inserted and permitted to attain an upright position. The spring 38 will cause the upper and lower engaging means to securely grasp the tumbler 52 therebetween, the lip 50 of the tumbler being received in the groove 48. It is to be noted that no moisture or foreign matter cau enter the tumbler 52 when covered by the body 44.

Since from the foregoing, the construction and advantages of this tumbler holder are readily apparent, further description is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the precise embodiment shown and described, but all suitable modifcations and equivalents may be readily resorted to as desired.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A tumbler holder comprising a support casing having spaced front and rear walls, upper and lower slots in said front wall of said casing, upper and lower guide members slidably retained in said casing, all of the dimensions of said guide members being greater than the dimensions of said slots, upper and lower support arms, each of said arms being attached to one of said guidemembers and extending through one of said slots, tumbler supporting means attached to said support arms, and resilient means terminally attached to the lower portion of said upper guide member and the upper portion of lower guide member.

2. A tumbler holder comprising a support casing having spaced front and rear walls, upper and lower slots in said front wall of said casing, upper and lower guide members slidably retained in said casing, upper and lower support arms, each of said arms being attached to one of said guide members and extending through one of said slots, tumbler supporting means attached to said support arms, and resilient means terminally attached to the lower portion of said upper guide member and the upper portion of the lower guide member, said tumbler supporting means attached to said upper support arm including an upper body member, and a cylindrical projection of less diameter than said body member attached thereto forming a peripheral groove for reception of the upper edge of a tumbler.

3. A tumbler holder comprising a support casing having spaced front and rear walls, upper and lower slots in said front wall of said casing, upper and lower guide members slidably retained in said casing, all of the dimensions of said guide members being greater than the dimensions of said slots, upper and lower support arms, each of said arms being attached to one of said guide members and extending through one of said slots, tumbler supporting means attached to said support arms, and

resilient means terminally attached to the lower portion of said upper guide member and the upper portion of the lower guide member, said resilient means compris ing a coil spring within said casing, said tumbler supporting means attached to said upper support arm including an upper body member, and a cylindrical projection of less diameter than said body member attached thereto forming a peripheral groove for reception of the upper edge of a tumbler, the tumbler supporting means attached to said lower support including a base plate, and a guard rail supported above said base plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Christensen Feb. 1, 1916 Cartre Feb. 25, 1919 Watson Dec. 11, 1923 Schwab et al. Aug. 11, 1925 Massey Sept. 15, 1942 Briley Jan. 26, 1943 

